East Bound by Nana Malone (big ebook reader txt) 📕

I’d set the cameras when I hadn’t known her just in case of a situation like this. I’d never turned them on inside her flat though. Only the ones outside.

It was the most invasive form of surveillance. Normally, I would have cameras inside her home and at her work, but I only had the one in her laptop and in her office. I needed more cameras in her flat. The one across the road was the only security system that I tapped into.

I had at least downloaded the software onto her phone before we’d spent much time together. Before I’d started to catch a case of feelings.

I’d mostly forgotten about it afterward, but I needed it now.

Or you could just talk to her.

What the hell was that bullshit about? No. If I talked to her, she would know she’d been caught out and formulate a lie. This was all because I had to get my cock wet.

Fuck. Of all the daft things.

You can bitch, or you can fix it.

Oh, I was going to fix it, all right. And Nyla was going to regret ever crossing me.

All she did was make you love her. 

And that was bad enough.

Once my Bird's Eye Protocols were engaged, screens popped up on my app about everything Nyla. Her phone gave me her location. She was headed back toward the tube.

I leaned forward into my glove compartment and pulled out several surveillance cameras. It was a matter of quick work and tricky placement. But I was back in ten minutes after bugging their whole lair, or whatever the hell she and Amelia called that place.

Checking my phone, I smiled when I saw she was headed toward London Lords. That would give me time to properly place cameras in her flat. I’d want eyes on her bedroom, loo, the living room, and her kitchen. I already had her desk at work, the main conference room at Interpol, though she wouldn’t be using those for a while. And now her makeshift lair.

You're a sick freak. 

Nyla wouldn't make a single move without me knowing. No way in hell was I getting caught unaware again. We’d risked too much. Come too far. When this was over with Jameson, I'd walk away from her. But for the foreseeable future, I had to keep an eye on her, and I would.

She'd already shattered my heart. No way in hell could that happen again.

Nyla

What a shit show.

I scurried out of the tube and practically ran to the London Lords Hotel in Soho. Christ.

I needed to see East. I had called him twice, but he hadn't answered. I knew he had a meeting, but what if he hadn't gone to the office? Where else could he be?

Panic had my heart pounding into my ribs. The normal thump, thump steady rhythm going taka-taka-taka. Amelia was good. She was very good. I couldn't believe how much work she'd already done.

I hadn't known she was that invested.

Weren’t you the one who compelled her? Fed the interest?

What the hell was I going to do? She was my partner. My best mate. I had dragged her down this rabbit hole, and now, she'd given it a life of its own. I needed to warn East. At least let him know what was going on.

The bellhop met me with a smile. "Good morning, ma’am. Do you have any luggage?"

I shook my head. "No thanks."

Before he could question me further, I shuffled inside. My trainers made a squeak, squeak, squeak sound as I hustled on the sleek marble floor with the chandelier's light refracting across the striations.

The concierge found me next. "Agent Kincade, it's a pleasure to see you again."

I frowned. "Have we met?”

"We did, briefly. How can I help you today?"

I pointed to the lift. "I'm just going to see Mr. Hale. It's urgent."

He gave me a warm smile and clasped his hands behind his back before giving me a slight bow. "I'm so sorry, but Mr. Hale is not available at the moment."

"Well, do you mind if I just go up and wait? This is really important."

"I'm so sorry, Agent Kincade. You won't be allowed to go up and wait."

A fissure of unease crept up my spine. "I don't understand. What's going on? Is there a reason you won't let me upstairs? I know he put me on his permit list."

"Well, as you understand, Mr. Hale resides in the penthouse loft. Unless he specifically has you on his access list or you have a warrant, then I can't let you up."

From the periphery, I noticed two large men dressed in suits inching their way toward me. Then I knew. "What's happening here?"

Thomas, the concierge, or at least that's what his badge said, gave me another soft smile. "Perhaps if you can come back at another time something will change?"

I blinked at him. How was this happening? I had just left East. We’d shagged this morning. He’d looked at me like he adored me.

Did he say the words?

I shoved the thought aside.

"There must be some kind of mistake, Thomas. Check again. Call him. I was just here a few days ago. Surely, nothing has changed."

How the hell had he kissed me goodbye like that then banned me from the hotel? What had happened?

My brain kept trying to offer a myriad of unhelpful scenarios. But I refused to believe them. He did care about me. No way he could fake that. Hell, I’d met his friends. They'd enveloped me as part of their team. Part of the plans.

There was no way this was happening. No way in hell. I knew him.

Are you sure about that?

He wouldn't have given me that kind of access to the people he loved the most in the world. He trusted me. We trusted each other. I believed him when he told me about the Elite and what had happened in the past. This was a mistake. It had to be.

When I realized that security was, in fact,